Every stop detailed on road to the big leagues

FISHKILL — Jacob Jefferies was glancing through his scouting report on the major league baseball Web site when he learned that he apparently had a "fringy arm."

Mira Wassef

FISHKILL — Jacob Jefferies was glancing through his scouting report on the major league baseball Web site when he learned that he apparently had a "fringy arm."

But Jefferies, a catcher for the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, took the remark that questioned his arm strength like most competitive athletes.

"It said my arm was on the fringe, like borderline," said Jefferies, who was a third-round pick of the Rays this year. "I was like 'Oh, man, I should probably work on that.' You look at it as inspiration and motivation."

Now Jefferies is in the minor leagues, where teams use progress reports to track each players' performance on a weekly basis.

Renegades' manager Joe Alvarez spends an hour every Sunday filling out progress reports for each guy on his 30-man roster. The reports are detailed and include offense, defense, pitching, and base-running information. The Rays' organization has a list of criterion that need to be addressed for each report.

The reports are sent to the front office and included in each player's file, and are used to track a player's progress from season to season. The Rays' organization uses the progress reports in deciding when and if the players are moved up in class, and are closely evaluated when a minor-league prospect is included in a trade.

With a couple hundred players in each major league team's farm system, the progress reports are one way a player can get noticed.

Alvarez usually has a sit-down with each player to go over the reports.

"It's just general information of things we feel they're doing or not doing, both positive and negative," Alvarez said. "It's constructive criticism. It gives the individual an understanding of what he has to work on and what his plan of attack is."

Jefferies, who spends most of the time as designated hitter and was drafted out of the University of California-Davis, hasn't seen a copy of his progress report, but the Renegades' coaching staff has hinted at the adjustments he needs to make offensively and defensively. His throwing mechanics have improved and he's made the adjustment on his swing.

"I know what I need to work on," said Jefferies, who is curious about his progress report. "I don't have the strongest arm in the world. I'm working on it, though. I'm still working on receiving and framing the ball, and calling a game."

The Ray's philosophy is to let the players themselves figure out what part of their game needs the most work. So they imposed a 30-day moratorium where hitting coach Jared Sandberg could not impart any instruction to the players. Sandberg, who was drafted by the Rays in 2001, said the idea was to give the coaches more time to evaluate the players before suggesting changes.

"I can't suggest any mechanical changes because the organization believes a player comes into pro ball and should be able to just play and have their natural ability and techniques take over," said Sandberg, who also plays a role in filling out progress reports. "It's frustrating for the players, too. Some guys struggle, but most of them have just let their natural ability take over instead of saying, 'I have to do this or that' or figure out mechanics. Then you put pressure on yourself and then find yourself in a slump."

The moratorium is set to expire within the next few days and Sandberg said it was tough watching Jefferies struggle through a 3-for-30 slump. But Jefferies figured out that his wide stance caused an over-stride and drift on his swing and it affected his timing. He's varied his stance a bit, and now he's been able to use the whole field, Sandberg said.

Jefferies broke out of his slump and went on a six-game hitting streak — he's batting .394 with a home run and nine RBI in the last 10 games.

Alvarez said most of the players handle the constructive criticism well and take the necessary steps to improve their game. Alvarez said he has noticed an improvement in shortstop Robi Estrada, who has learned to slow the game down and has made better decisions in the field.

"Most of them make the adjustments," said Alvarez, who wished progress reports were around when he was playing in the early 1970s. "Mentally, most of them understand what's going on. Physically, it takes more time to make the adjustments, and that's where we come in. But only the individual can determine if they can move on to the next level next year or come back to the same league and try to work things out. He'll have to keep making adjustments or the rest of the competition will run by him. That's the way this business is."